We have entered the "Goldilocks zone"... That's what I like to call the time of year, before the summer rain starts and the water becomes "gin clear" with freshwater run off.  Also, the water temperature is just right for fish to be aggressive but not too warm to make them lethargic!!!  The perfect match of clarity and temperature, matched with good tides, equals quality outings with productive opportunities throughout the fishery. 


Tarpon on the beach front and passes, and good packs of Big Snook gathering for a summer spawn.  When you have the right conditions, targeting both can be done in a half day trip!!! Only 4 hrs, to land bucket list trophy fish!!! It's a great time to go fishing in South West Florida!!!


Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

Spring time fishing around Palm Island, Manasota Key, and Boca Grande FL. has gotten good! We are seeing schools of redfish on the flats, and lots of snook for rod bending action. Our water temperature has been hovering in the high 70s, but we are yet to see 80 degrees consistently this spring season. Even though, there are tarpon being caught in the southern sound, and groups of fish gathering in "Big Pass".

We are on the door step of some stellar fishing. The next few weeks, the weather should become a bit more consistent and with that the fishery will explode with opportunity!!! This late spring/early summer season is shaping up to be a great time to go fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

With red tide still looming at our door step at our areas beaches, we have still been catching consistent fish in the back country of Charlotte Harbor. Because of the restriction of tidal flows to certain areas, there are areas of safe refuge for the fish during bouts with red tide.

Our goal as anglers, is the zero in on those areas, and concentrate our efforts to fish clean water. Snook, redfish and lots of big trout were caught this week. Spotted sea trout upward of 25" landed this week on multiple trips. Snook and redfish were smaller, but fun to catch and kept steady action.

The water temperature is almost 80 degrees, and we will have an area of high pressure overhead starting next week. That will make our winds turn east for a few days and hopefully blow the dirty water out in the Gulf. 

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

We have had beautiful weather here in South West Florida the last week or so. But, the last cold front brought some Red Tide to our shores and in our bays. We are optimistic that another week of warm temperatures and East winds with help the red tide move out in the Gulf, and off of the beaches. 

Meanwhile... We have been fishing South in the harbor system where the red tide has not been able to get. Trout, Snook, and Redfish are our target species, and we are finding plenty of them. The water is warming up daily, and with more warm temperatures in the weeks forecast, it a fantastic time to go Fishing in South West Florida.

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

We are starting to see spring time conditions around South West Florida. The weather has been nothing short of beautiful, but we are still seeing some cold fronts forecasted for the middle of the month. We fished inshore last week, and the conditions were about perfect. Little on the windy side, but clean clear water and happy fish.

Redfish, snook, and trout were caught at almost every spot.The late winter early spring season is shaping up to be a great time to fish in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

We are look forward to getting back fishing after hurricane Ian!!! With Palm Island Resort opening up to guests in the month of March, myself and the guides of PIO are looking forward to some great spring time fishing. With rising water temperature we anticipate bait any day, moving into our bays and Harbor.

With that said we are still fishing our winter trend. The nearshore bite has been the "go to" when conditions allow. On a 2 boat trip today, we were able to catch triple tail and pompano inshore, and grouper and sheepshead nearshore.  With the warm start to February, it's a fantastic time for fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

It's been awhile since my last report... In fact, it's been awhile since I was able to get on the water and actually fish!!!

Hurricane Ian did a number on the Palm Island and Manasota Key area. We got hit with sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts at 208 mph. (those are numbers from a wind machine set up by storm trackers in Placida) so you can imagine the rebuilding efforts are going to take some time.

Almost 90 days removed from the storm, Rum Bay restaurant in the resort is open and serving patrons. Owners and island residents are still filtering in, some for the first time since Ian. There are debris removal trucks on Palm Island daily, but there is still lots of clean up left. 

Our Pathfinder 22' made it through the storm, but with lack of use, there are maintenance items that needed addressed. That boat should be up and running by the holiday hopefully. Our Parker 25' had a tree fall on it, and hopefully be back online by spring or tarpon season.

We have fishing guides waiting for your bookings. Due to both of our booking venues having taken extensive damage, our last 90 days have been slim pickings for the industry eco tourism. It will be some time still, before we get back to normal, but our hope is that we can help fill some gaps for our friends and family in the industry. 

So, if you are interested in a fishing charter... Please reach out, we have fantastic fishing guides wanting your business and excited to get back to work!!! 

Thanks, and as always it's a fantastic time to just be alive in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

It's Tarpon time in South West Florida!!! Fish have poured into Boca Grande pass, and fed well on the last moon.  We will start to see fish migrating down our beach front, right off Palm Island and Manasota Key.  These schools can have numbers of 20-500 fish in crystal clear water Gulf water.  The Charlotte harbor area will have fish moving into the area from both north and south throughout the summer. There truly has never been a better time to be fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

Fishing around Palm Island and Manasota Key Florida has been fantastic this April. Unseasonal cold fronts has held our water temperature in the "goldilocks zone" for a few weeks now. Snook, Spotted Sea Trout, and Redfish are being caught on almost every half day trip, and we are starting to see some Tarpon move into our area as well. As we creep closer to the coveted 80 degree mark for water temperature, we will continue to see our fishing improve. It's a fantastic time to go fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

With cold temps in the air now, winter is really here... No fooling this time, it's for real!  So we are locked into our bay pompano fishing.  We are finding these great tasting fish, throughout the region. Tide, and sandy bottom with broken grass is important, clean water helps too. We are also finding nice trout and redfish on the flats, warming on the grass with rising temperature and water.  It really is a fantastic time to go fishing in Southwest Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946